SpaceX Files Application For Second Starship Test – Animation Shows Hot Staging Ring In Action

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As SpaceX waits for the Forest and Wildlife Services (FWS) to approve its launch pad for the next Starship orbital flight, the firm has already filed an application with the FCC to allow it to communicate with Starship during the test. The filing lists January as the start date for the Starship test campaign, and such filings are a regular affair as SpaceX keeps the window open for operations as it develops the world's largest rocket in Boca Chica, Texas. The second test will feature several upgrades over the one in April, out of which perhaps the biggest will be a hot stage separation that will see the second stage Starship blast off from the first stage while in flight.

Starting from the FCC filing, it was recently approved by the FCC and covers a six month time period starting from January 27, 2024. However, as opposed to a filing earlier this year, which was also for the second Starship test flight, this one is limited in nature. The earlier filing, which surfaced in May less than a month after the Starship orbital test flight, had covered the first stage booster, the launch pad, the full Starship vehicle and the second stage.

However, the latest filing only seeks the FCC's authority to communicate with the Starship booster and the launch site. Depending on whether SpaceX has filed other applications with SpaceX, this could mean that the firm is either looking to run Starship tests that are not orbital or it has filed other requests with the FCC to seek clearance for the full vehicle and flight. Out of these, the latter

What hot staging might look like in the future on B9 S25